There are many devices on the market to hold the paper supply for computer printers and to catch the paper after printing. Most of these devices require an area behind the printer at least as large as the horizontal area of the computer paper when the paper is lying flat. This requires a distance of at least 11 inches behind the printer. There are two products commercially available which conserve space behind the printer by (a) storing both the paper supply and the output paper under the printer or by (b) storing the supply paper under the printer and the output paper above the printer. The advantages of the present invention over each of the available products is discussed below:
There is a product currently available through most computer supply catalogs which is designed with two horizontal trays to hold the printer supply paper and the output paper, one tray above the other. The printer sits on top of the product, thus conserving space behind the printer. The supply paper is pulled from the lower tray into the printer and, after printing, is fed into the upper tray through a guided pathway. When the printing process is finished, there is printed output extending from the printer roller through the guided pathway to and into the collection tray beneath the printer. To retrieve the printed output it is necessary to separate the paper at the printer roller, feed the paper through the guided pathway into the collection tray and then retrieve the paper from the collection tray. The paper must be retrieved from the collection tray through the side of the product, thus requiring a clear space beside the printer in order for users to get their hands into the collection tray and remove the paper from the collection tray.
The advantages of the present invention over this commercially available product are:
(1) no attachment to the printer is required
(2) the supply paper in the present invention is stored behind the printer in a near vertical position. The printer does not have to be moved or reoriented in order to utilize the present invention.
(3) there is no guided pathway linking the paper coming out of the printer to the printed output paper collection tray. The output paper from the printer feeds directly from the printer roller to the near vertical printed output paper collection tray. This saves the user the problem of feeding the output paper into the guideway.
(4) The distance from the printer roller to the collection tray of the present invention is less than half the length of a sheet of output paper. In the commercial product described above, there are two to three pages between the printer roller and the collection tray. This length of paper between the printer roller and the collection tray requires that the user either eject blank paper through the printer to drive the output into the collection tray or tear off the paper at the printer roller and push it through the guideway. In the present invention, there is no paper waste and no requirement to push the final sheets of paper through a guideway into the collection tray.
(5) No additional space is required around the printer to allow user access to the printed output. The output paper is in an open, nearly upright printed output paper collection tray in front of the user and the output paper is retrieved simply by pulling up on the output paper and tearing it along the paper perforations.
Another product, produced by the AMERI*PAC Division of Bankier Companies, Inc. and sold under the trademark TOP*DECK, is designed only to catch the printed output from a small printer. Accommodation of the paper supply and paper delivery to the printer must be taken care of by separate means. The company does offer an optional printer stand, typical of many commercial products, in which the paper supply is stored under the printer. The paper storage and supply device, however, is not part of the protected (patent pending) paper catcher device. The TOP*DECK product takes the output from the printer and transfers it through a guideway to a tray located directly above the printer. The guideway is of a length such that from two to three pages of output must be produced before stacking begins in/on the collection tray. Likewise, when printing is finished, two to three pages of output remain within the guideway. Legs attached to the TOP*DECK paper catcher allow it to sit on the work table independent of the printer.
The advantages of the present invention over the TOP*DECK product are:
(1) The present invention includes provisions for storing the supply paper and delivering the paper to the printer as it is needed.
(2) The present invention stores the paper supply and the printed output paper in a near vertical position behind the printer and does not restrict access to the printer from above.
(3) The present invention stores the printed output paper within (more or less) one half a paper length from the printer roller and thus does not have to fill up a two to three sheet guideway before it is accessible from the collection tray. The disclosed invention saves paper relative to the TOP*DECK product if it is necessary for the TOP*DECK user to form feed two or three blank pages through the printer in order to push the printed output into the collection tray.
(4) The present invention allows the user to read the printed output as it comes out of the printer. It does not appear to be possible, or at least very easy to read the printed output with the TOP*DECK collector due to the overhanging collection tray and the guideway that directs the paper into the collection tray.